Muff's Modules & More

[Babaluma]

Whilst perusing the forum over at

http://www.psymusic.co.uk/

I came across a few interesting links on the Goa scene in the 80's.

Here is a report by Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis:

http://www.techgnosis.com/paradise.html

And here is an excellent article written by a dude who was actually there:

http://www.bleep43.com/bleep43/2010/4/14/unveiling-the-secret-the-root s-of-trance.html

And a podcast link to a wonderful two hour set in .mp3 featuring 80's Goa classics to accompany the article above:

http://www.bleep43.com/podcast/2010/4/14/podcast-165-the-roots-of-tran ce.html

It's really interesting to hear the influences and then compare them with what (some might say sadly) became the Psy Trance we know today.

Anyway, I just thought some of you might be interested!

[a100user]

That is a great Bam, nice tunes too.

[slow_riot]

really fascinating stuff. socially, musically etc etc.

Interesting counterpoint to 60s psychadelic culture. In some ways paralleled.

Always nice to hear 'trance' music that is interesting, rather than just soulless/cheesy commercial stuff.

[suitandtieguy]

thanks for posting this.

[Babaluma]

no worries!

i have a love/hate relationship with "psy trance" music. these days it's mostly hate, but i was well into the scene from around 94 to 96, i used to go to london parties every weekend (return to the source, escape from samsara, psubliminal psychedelia etc.)

however, before and since this period my music tastes have been wide and varied. unfortunately, what i and my friends experienced of the "scene" in those years was that it was extremely closed and insular. trance for breakfast, trance for lunch, and trance for dinner. we used to refer to it as the "trance vacuum", and it got so bad we all became very disenamoured and left the scene and the music behind.

i remember repeatedly trying to get other trance heads to appreciate things such as throbbing gristle, death in june, current 93 and nurse with wound, and absolutely none of them getting it. they thought i was "weird". well, that's true, but...

i'll occasionally spin some older tunes for nostalgia, but i hadn't heard anything new that really moved me in that genre for many many years, until late last year, when i heard the free download of a live show from "son kite" in tokyo, december 2003, which is available on their website here:

http://www.sonkite.com/music1.htm

and it really blew me away. very minimal, but very good, and would you believe it, extremely nice use of dynamic range. i haven't had a chance to see them live myself yet, but will do if they ever make it over to japan again!

anyway...

[Knobtwister]

Thanks Baba, really interesting stuff

[skweeegor]

I think the cheesy full-on stuff that's so popular is total tripe, but what do you think of the modern hi-tek, dark stuff like Furious, Cosmo, Psykovsky, Kindzaza etc.? I personally love it - psychedelic as hell.

Thanks for those links, should be an interesting read.

[neandrewthal]

Eeeenteresting!

I don't know the first thing about trance so this was all new to me. I have a few psy trance CD's from the 90's but the kida suck

If I read the author of that second articel correctly he seems to think the only good trance music was made by screwing around with other popular electronic music and none of the stuff actually made as trance? Fascinating. I'd love to hear some of these old mixes.

The song at 0:36 in that third video is amazing.

[Time Machines]

Thanks for posting this, Babaluma!

[neandrewthal]

[Spanningtree]

Thanks Babaluma, really interesting. Excellent read.

[bonusplays]

People may hate me for it, but you should check out this Drankenstein Mix, which is a hybrid of ridiculous trance breakdowns (you will recognize some if you were even only peripherally into trance) and Southern rap.

I find it pretty compelling and after a half an hour it starts to have its own logic to it. Funny to bring up in the context of reevaluating trance, I saw that mix of "early" goa and enjoyed it because it sounds so "proto". Its kind of more on the industrial/ebm/new wave side, even, but you can see where the sound is going.

[Reality Checkpoint]

Listening to the podcast now. Brings back some very happy memories!

Thanks for the link Babaluma.

[Babaluma]

[Babaluma]

my favourite early trance track is the b side of the original "pure trance" mix of the klf's "what time is love", which i believe has never been released elsewhere. the a-side is stunning too and widely available:

[slow_riot]

random musings.

i'm absolutely fascinated by that trance state acheived from repeated rhythms, and also i guess from dancing. from allowing people to use biologically gifted tools to explore the music. Quite democratic.

i've gotten my kicks in this vein a lot from some minimal techno. i think in a pure/core sense there can be a lot of crossover with these more interesting trance musics. (though Minimal seems often more suited to an indoors experience)

these styles have many pitfalls... it's easy for scenes to go stale/dark quickly, musically, as well as culturally, and often what spills over into mainstream culture is all to often the formulaic music, and dark side culturally. Maybe that's a consistant pattern across time.

[Babaluma]

yeah it's very interesting, the whole history of music and rhythm for consciousness expansion and cultural homogenisation, going back to african polyrhythmic drumming and indian drone instruments etc. and coming full circle to brain entrainment and binaural beat frequencies.

i agree that minimal techno is often great for this, without being "trance" music per se (as in the genre).

the notion of scenes going stale and the stratification of electronic music is a whole other kettle of fish, but i will say that i preferred it when dj's for the most part were not constrained by a single style or genre. i know some great dj's here who still really like to mix it up a lot (detroit techno with donna summer etc.), which is very refreshing to see.

[Babaluma]

here is a link to the only surviving laurent set in existence, from 1987. i haven't listened to it yet:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/y8nowv

[Entrainer]

[skweeegor]